That quiz I posted last week prompted a MAJOR spike in blog traffic. Thanks to everyone who participated. It was gratifying to know that I can drive traffic to the blog, if I want/need. It's also pretty obvious that my usual low number of visitors is not the reason I am still searching for a job.
Although I am leaving the quiz open for anyone else who wants to take it, I wanted to throw down a little analysis. (So go ahead and add new answers, make my analysis irrelevant). My big fear in putting together the quiz was that an overwhelming majority of respondents would say they had a brief job hunt with no struggle. Unfortunately for everyone who had to sweat it out, this wasn't the case. It's not rare to have a job with minimal job effort (you know, compared to the MAJOR effort that was earning the Ph.D. in the first place) (19% of participants report their job hunt was 0 months, 8/36 reported having no major barriers in their job hunt). But it's pretty far from the norm.
On the other hand, people often tell me that being on the market as long as I have been is no big deal. Again, more than half of respondents DID get their position in less than a year. So it's ok to feel like this is taking longer than I thought it should. I find it terrifying that a FIFTH of respondents said it took more than 2 years to find a job (22%), which is terribly long time to be seeking the stability of a job. In a future post, I will have more to say about the STEM Skills Gap Crisis (15/36 reported having difficulty finding jobs that meet their qualifications), but for now it should be clear to us all that there is no "usual" way Ph.D.s get that first job- and it's probably because there are so many directions to go from here.
Today I got to chat with one of the other interns about her job hunt, she post-doced in comp bio, then took a staff position for a year and a half before deciding to leave academic science and has been looking for a position while doing some consulting for about a year. She is hoping to spin-off with a company that she's been working with for a couple months. She reminded me that lots of people post-doc while they are looking for a position, eventually everyone goes somewhere. It helps keep your skills from getting stale, even if it doesn't add anything else. Because how long can you be out of your field and still claim to be an expert in it? As she was saying this, I was reaching for a paperbag to breathe into with one hand and starting to surf "post-doc uw" with the other.
But I stopped myself.
She has a really good point, you don't want your skills to get stale. That's actually why I've been working so hard to get more communication experience as an intern and a contractor. If I took a post-doc, I couldn't do that. And then I would be letting go of the skills I've been working so hard on and I enjoy so much. I asked my editor at Words and Numbers to be a professional reference for me, and she agreed. I'm clearly not wasting my time, this is just MUCH slower than I wanted.
I have a looming anniversary. I defended my Ph.D. at the end of last June. In just a couple months, I won't really be a 'recent' graduate anymore. So I look back at what I've done with a year all to myself. It hasn't been lucrative, but I've learned a lot, taken on and conquered some new challenges and developed new contacts and skills. I don't know how long that will feel sufficient, but I'm not going to give up on this dream yet.
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Project Managing My Job Hunt 2: WBS
Once the project has been defined and authorized, then the tasks can be defined and organized. This results in a work breakdown structure (WBS). The WBS helps define the budget, schedule and delegation. It is not in chronological order, but rather grouped by phases or task types. For example, in class we are working on a landscape project. Construction efforts are separated from the planting efforts, since these are likely to be dealt with by different aspects of the team. Again, in my case, all the tasks are my responsibility eventually, but it is helpful to me to see all the things I should be doing so I can determine whether I am spending my time appropriately. Creation of the WBS, and even the schedule and budget are still planning
Our teacher showed several ways these can be organized, either like the outline for a long paper, with headings like 0.0 Landscape the park
1.0 Landscaping
1.1 Plant Grass
1.2 Plant Trees
1.3 Make walkways... right?
Or like a phylogenetic tree. This would work better if I were doing this by hand. Since I am putting this together in Blogger, you'll see the paper outline version.
My professor specifically recommended to think global first, keep the organization light at first, and not to define any task which seems to burdensome to manage. Although he said it is common to refine to too much detail, and then remove tasks that don't seem worthy of being a line item on a schedule. (I'll be honest, I am not entirely sure I understand what he means).
For myself, this means I am creating a gross brainstorm of tasks, then organizing them into groups and subgroups and looking for gaps. It's an interesting exercise for the job hunt. I can imagine how on a larger project this might be a more iterative process with different teams weighing in on the essential tasks and predicted schedule and budget while the project is still in the planning phase. Oh, and things that don't end up on the WBS include administrative tasks, such as "meet to create schedule," "budget," or "update supervisors..." even though these things will likely happen as well.
0.0 Project Job Hunt
1.0 Define Job requirement
1.1 Assess my skills (transferable and otherwise)
1.1.1 Meyers Briggs
1.1.2 Strengths Finder
1.1.3 Ask colleagues for recommendations
1.1.4 Soul Searching
1.2 Define my job requirements (what is adequate?)
1.2.1 Target employers
1.2.2 Target job titles
1.3 Informational interviews to refine target positions and employer
2.0 Locate Job opportunities
2.1 Prepare targeted application materials
2.1.1 Resume
2.1.2 CV
2.1.3 Cover letter
2.1.4 Networking Brief
2.1.5 Statement of research interests (?)
2.2 Find sources for relevant jobs
2.2.1 Update Job Board search clients
2.2.2 Update CV/resume on file with job boards
2.2.3 Contact Recruiters
2.3 Network
2.3.1 Ping network for opportunities
2.3.2 Add to network though mixers and introductions
3.0 Secure the Job
3.1 Prepare for interviews
3.1.1 Practice Interviews
3.1.2 Find nice interview clothes
3.2 Prepare for negotiations on salary, benefits etc.
3.2.1 Glassdoor
3.2.2 Practice Negotiation
*3.3 Apply for jobs
3.4 Follow-up with applications
3.4.1 Phone or email
3.4.2 Use excel to keep these organized
*In the first version of the chart, I forgot this critical step. Aha.
Notice which tasks end up in the project and which don't. Working at my current job or taking contracts is not strictly in the scope of this project. Blogging is beyond the scope of this project. Taking the PM class is beyond the scope of this project. None of these are bad things, but this does reinforce the notion that I seem to spend time on things that aren't getting me a job. What the WBS contains are only tasks/deliverables that are essential to successful outcomes. <== How business literate do I sound now?!
I have a certain skepticism that this rigid structure can work for nebulous projects where there are many uncontrolled external factors (I'm gonna have a hard time putting a deadline on this). Research is another area that is hard to manage in this way. Next up, we'll talk about risk. For now, go ahead a gloat in that righteous feeling that 'if I'd done this in graduate school, I would have graduated in like 4 months!' I'll revisit that (Spoiler Alert: that feeling goes away.)
Our teacher showed several ways these can be organized, either like the outline for a long paper, with headings like 0.0 Landscape the park
1.0 Landscaping
1.1 Plant Grass
1.2 Plant Trees
1.3 Make walkways... right?
Or like a phylogenetic tree. This would work better if I were doing this by hand. Since I am putting this together in Blogger, you'll see the paper outline version.
My professor specifically recommended to think global first, keep the organization light at first, and not to define any task which seems to burdensome to manage. Although he said it is common to refine to too much detail, and then remove tasks that don't seem worthy of being a line item on a schedule. (I'll be honest, I am not entirely sure I understand what he means).
For myself, this means I am creating a gross brainstorm of tasks, then organizing them into groups and subgroups and looking for gaps. It's an interesting exercise for the job hunt. I can imagine how on a larger project this might be a more iterative process with different teams weighing in on the essential tasks and predicted schedule and budget while the project is still in the planning phase. Oh, and things that don't end up on the WBS include administrative tasks, such as "meet to create schedule," "budget," or "update supervisors..." even though these things will likely happen as well.
0.0 Project Job Hunt
1.0 Define Job requirement
1.1 Assess my skills (transferable and otherwise)
1.1.1 Meyers Briggs
1.1.2 Strengths Finder
1.1.3 Ask colleagues for recommendations
1.1.4 Soul Searching
1.2 Define my job requirements (what is adequate?)
1.2.1 Target employers
1.2.2 Target job titles
1.3 Informational interviews to refine target positions and employer
2.0 Locate Job opportunities
2.1 Prepare targeted application materials
2.1.1 Resume
2.1.2 CV
2.1.3 Cover letter
2.1.4 Networking Brief
2.1.5 Statement of research interests (?)
2.2 Find sources for relevant jobs
2.2.1 Update Job Board search clients
2.2.2 Update CV/resume on file with job boards
2.2.3 Contact Recruiters
2.3 Network
2.3.1 Ping network for opportunities
2.3.2 Add to network though mixers and introductions
3.0 Secure the Job
3.1 Prepare for interviews
3.1.1 Practice Interviews
3.1.2 Find nice interview clothes
3.2 Prepare for negotiations on salary, benefits etc.
3.2.1 Glassdoor
3.2.2 Practice Negotiation
*3.3 Apply for jobs
3.4 Follow-up with applications
3.4.1 Phone or email
3.4.2 Use excel to keep these organized
*In the first version of the chart, I forgot this critical step. Aha.
Notice which tasks end up in the project and which don't. Working at my current job or taking contracts is not strictly in the scope of this project. Blogging is beyond the scope of this project. Taking the PM class is beyond the scope of this project. None of these are bad things, but this does reinforce the notion that I seem to spend time on things that aren't getting me a job. What the WBS contains are only tasks/deliverables that are essential to successful outcomes. <== How business literate do I sound now?!
I have a certain skepticism that this rigid structure can work for nebulous projects where there are many uncontrolled external factors (I'm gonna have a hard time putting a deadline on this). Research is another area that is hard to manage in this way. Next up, we'll talk about risk. For now, go ahead a gloat in that righteous feeling that 'if I'd done this in graduate school, I would have graduated in like 4 months!' I'll revisit that (Spoiler Alert: that feeling goes away.)
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Being a role model: Illusions of granduer
Networking is a two way street- I need help finding a job, so I need to help anyone I can find a job too. A former student of mine from my first TA experience posted on Facebook that he is unable to find a position as a science teacher, and is hoping to find a tech position in Pittsburgh somewhere. Since I am an expert job hunter, I weighed in to wish him luck, and he asked me to be a reference. Of course! He was a great student and would be a great addition to a lab!
This is the third time I've been asked to be a reference for a student of mine, and I always think- don't you have someone... like, important to write you a letter? I mean, my grandmother thinks my Ph.D. is cool, but will your future employer be impressed by a letter from an out-of-work molecular biologist? Of course, both past students got the position they were hoping for, so maybe I am placing too much importance on the role of the reference.
It also reminds me, these people (not kids- they are in their mid-twenties for crying out loud) look up to me, and that gives me an unnerving sense of responsibility. Being a role model shouldn't be taken lightly. Example- I really look up to all the post-docs in my old lab. Seeing all of them hesitate (struggle, battle, endeavor, be rebuffed and dismayed) to move their careers ahead makes me so hesitant to think about post-docing. If scientists that motivated, committed and freaking brainy can't rise in the ranks, what am I going to do? When I left Pitt, I was excited to find a way to have a career without a post-doc and other grad students thought that was cool. I haven't figured it out yet, but sometimes I tell myself I am sticking to my guns for other grad students who wanted to see some alternate road to success. This isn't about me, it's about something bigger than me. I'm trying to find some way to make the public investment in ME worthwhile.
This is the third time I've been asked to be a reference for a student of mine, and I always think- don't you have someone... like, important to write you a letter? I mean, my grandmother thinks my Ph.D. is cool, but will your future employer be impressed by a letter from an out-of-work molecular biologist? Of course, both past students got the position they were hoping for, so maybe I am placing too much importance on the role of the reference.
It also reminds me, these people (not kids- they are in their mid-twenties for crying out loud) look up to me, and that gives me an unnerving sense of responsibility. Being a role model shouldn't be taken lightly. Example- I really look up to all the post-docs in my old lab. Seeing all of them hesitate (struggle, battle, endeavor, be rebuffed and dismayed) to move their careers ahead makes me so hesitant to think about post-docing. If scientists that motivated, committed and freaking brainy can't rise in the ranks, what am I going to do? When I left Pitt, I was excited to find a way to have a career without a post-doc and other grad students thought that was cool. I haven't figured it out yet, but sometimes I tell myself I am sticking to my guns for other grad students who wanted to see some alternate road to success. This isn't about me, it's about something bigger than me. I'm trying to find some way to make the public investment in ME worthwhile.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Reflections and instructions
While I was waiting at the auto-shop this morning, I had some time to reflect on my job hunt so far. I've had a couple insights- for one, job hunting is not like having a job, it requires different skills and a different perspective. I don't think these must be mutually exclusive, but I'm creating a completely different professional persona as a job hunter than the mousey science grad student that just defended that dissertation. Results can speak for themselves, my resume needs more help advertising.
Something about this advertising and self promotion makes me deeply uncomfortable. I'm not well versed in professional social interactions (or social interactions) so I worry I am going to really stuff this up somehow. But my second reflection was that I haven't yet. I haven't done anything really regrettable yet. Sure, I don't have a job yet, but I keep thinking I am trying more and more outrageous things, but so far none have backfired. I called an HR person! I posted my LinkedIn Profile on Twitter- I'm tweeting, for crying out loud! People return my calls and are happy to help me out. Maybe my sense of what is outrageous in a job hunt is finally approaching normal.
This does seem to affirm though that I have no natural sense for this. I still feel like I am fumbling in the dark, making phone calls, submitting resumes, rewriting cover letters and tweeting. I hope this activity will result in a job, but I mostly feel like I am inefficient and naive. Which is why I am always looking for advice- and is also why I will continue to do absolutely everything Steve Levy tells me do. It was his idea to put up the twitter feed. He told me to start sending tweets to my target companies- it worked on a little guy, why not Pfizer? He told me to join more groups and add people to my linked in network religiously.
My excitement to follow instructions in the job hunt is an indication of how unfocused I'm been, so here is my new plan. I'm going to start everyday with a plan. Next week, I'll be joining a couple other professional networks so I get get into some big LinkedIn groups, I'll be following up on one resume and with one recruiter and I am going to start looking for target companies using LinkedIn. I'm going to finish every day by achieving something- I always want to have an answer for "What are you doing now?" I've got two other balls up in the air right now, I am doing contract work editing chinese manuscripts, and I am volunteering at the Carnegie Science Center. I have goals for both of those, as well- dollar amounts for the editing work and to actually learn customer service at the science center. I like having goals.
But my other goal: I'm taking a break- a proper vacation. I've defended, I've entered the job market, I've learned tons, and just this week, I officially left my bench. When I was a girl scout, one of the survivalists we talked to told us if you are ever lost in the woods, make time to play. If you only worry about how you are going to survive, you'll wear down too quick to make it. Didn't your brownie troop get visited by survivalists? Next week, I'm a full-time job hunter, but this weekend I am going to celebrate graduating 22nd grade and the end of summer.
Something about this advertising and self promotion makes me deeply uncomfortable. I'm not well versed in professional social interactions (or social interactions) so I worry I am going to really stuff this up somehow. But my second reflection was that I haven't yet. I haven't done anything really regrettable yet. Sure, I don't have a job yet, but I keep thinking I am trying more and more outrageous things, but so far none have backfired. I called an HR person! I posted my LinkedIn Profile on Twitter- I'm tweeting, for crying out loud! People return my calls and are happy to help me out. Maybe my sense of what is outrageous in a job hunt is finally approaching normal.
This does seem to affirm though that I have no natural sense for this. I still feel like I am fumbling in the dark, making phone calls, submitting resumes, rewriting cover letters and tweeting. I hope this activity will result in a job, but I mostly feel like I am inefficient and naive. Which is why I am always looking for advice- and is also why I will continue to do absolutely everything Steve Levy tells me do. It was his idea to put up the twitter feed. He told me to start sending tweets to my target companies- it worked on a little guy, why not Pfizer? He told me to join more groups and add people to my linked in network religiously.
My excitement to follow instructions in the job hunt is an indication of how unfocused I'm been, so here is my new plan. I'm going to start everyday with a plan. Next week, I'll be joining a couple other professional networks so I get get into some big LinkedIn groups, I'll be following up on one resume and with one recruiter and I am going to start looking for target companies using LinkedIn. I'm going to finish every day by achieving something- I always want to have an answer for "What are you doing now?" I've got two other balls up in the air right now, I am doing contract work editing chinese manuscripts, and I am volunteering at the Carnegie Science Center. I have goals for both of those, as well- dollar amounts for the editing work and to actually learn customer service at the science center. I like having goals.
But my other goal: I'm taking a break- a proper vacation. I've defended, I've entered the job market, I've learned tons, and just this week, I officially left my bench. When I was a girl scout, one of the survivalists we talked to told us if you are ever lost in the woods, make time to play. If you only worry about how you are going to survive, you'll wear down too quick to make it. Didn't your brownie troop get visited by survivalists? Next week, I'm a full-time job hunter, but this weekend I am going to celebrate graduating 22nd grade and the end of summer.
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